Rank Math, the SEO plugin for WordPress websites

If you have a WordPress website, it is useful to have the Rank Math plugin. With this plugin, you can improve SEO (search engine optimisations) so that you get better search results and more organic traffic. Find out in this blog what Rank Math is, how to install it and what it can help your website with.

What is Rank Math?

Rank Math is the SEO plugin for WordPress websites that makes optimising websites easy. You get possible on-page seo optimisations per page and post based on the keyword set to improve the page. Based on these improvements, you can increase your SEO score. This score shows how well your page/message is optimised. This plugin also allows you to determine which pages are indexable and how you want your website to appear in search results with structured data.

Installation & configuration of Rank Math SEO

SEO plugin installation

How to install the plugin?

1. Go to your website’s WordPress dashboard
2. Click on plugins in the side menu
3. Click on ‘Add new plugin’
4. Search for Rank Math and click install now
5. Activate the plugin

Rank Math configuration

Once the plugin is activated, you also need to configure it. For this configuration, you go through several steps. This involves entering your e-mail address, choosing basic settings in the Rank Math setup wizard, filling in your website details, connecting to Google (e.g. to confirm website ownership via Google Search Console). After these settings, you can set up your website’s site folder. This is important to show search engines how your website is structured. After all these settings, Rank Math is ready to use.

 

How to use the SEO plugin

Rank Math is the ideal tool to improve your website’s on-page SEO. For each page, you should first set a focus keyword and possibly some individual keywords (auxiliary keywords). You will then be shown a score for each page to see how well the content is optimised for that keyword. Based on the chosen keyword and score, you will then get recommendations to improve the page.

Rank Math optimizations

After setting your focus keyword, the “general settings” tab will give you recommendations in 4 categories. Basic SEO, additional, title readability and content readability. Briefly, by category, the various recommendations.

Rank Math recommendations

Basic SEO

1. Make sure you use the focus keyword in the SEO title. The SEO title is the meta title (the title Google displays in search results)
2. The focus keyword is in the meta description (description that Google displays in the search results)
3. The focus keyword is in the URL
4. The focus keyword appears in the first 10% of content
5. The focus keyword is in the content
6. The content has x number of words. (minimum 600 for a main page & minimum 400 for other page)

Additional

1. The focus keyword is in the subheading(s) (H2, H3, H4, etc.)
2. The focus keyword is mentioned in the alt text of an image
3. The keyword is mentioned x number of times
4. The URL is x number of characters long
5. There may or may not be external links
6. Internal linking is present
7. You have not used this keyword yet
8. Use Content ai to further optimise the page

Title readability

1. The focus keyword is used at the beginning of the SEO title
2. Your title contains a power word
3. SEO title uses a number

Content readability

1. You use a plugin for a table of contents
2. You use short paragraphs
3. Content includes photos and/or videos

Meta title and description

You can also use Rank Math to adjust the meta title and description. If it also contains the keyword you set, it will increase the score. Here you can also see how it will look in Google. Here you can also customise the slug of the page so that it is clear to website visitors and also contains the keyword.

Advanced Settings

Besides these general settings, you can also adjust some advanced settings. This allows you to set whether each page is allowed to be indexed and whether a particular canonical URL should be set.

Rank Math dashboard

In the general Rank Math dashboard, there are several things you can customise and set for your website. You can set things like instant indexing, local seo, schema markup (structured data), etc.

Modules you should definitely turn on (that are not on by default) in Rank Math:

• 404 monitor: to monitor 404 pages
• SEO analysis: to make sure your website’s SEO is done right
• Redirections: if you want to redirect a broken or deleted page
• Image seo: this is also how to optimise the images on your website

Difference between Rank Math and Yoast SEO

It’s hard to say which plugin is better. Yoast SEO is the standard WordPress SEO plugin, while RankMath is an all-in-one SEO suite. So with Rank Math, you will be able to do much more. Are you really very much into SEO, it is definitely recommended to get the premium version to take advantage of the premium functions and extra features.

Why choose for Rank Math?

Easy to use

Often, you don’t have much time to spend on your website and optimise it. This is why Rank Math is the ideal tool. It is easy to install, but also during use.

Data integration

SEO is about understanding data. How users find, visit and interact with your website. Rank Math also has this feature because you can link with Google Analytics and Google Search Console. If you use the paid version of Rank Math, you can track your rankings weekly and have much more data.

Schema of rich snippets

It is very important to use schema markup in your SEO efforts. Schema is a type of HTML markup that helps search engines, such as Google and Bing, better understand what the page is about and how it should be displayed in search results.

The built-in SEO audit

You get automatic recommendations for each page/post on how to improve it and what exactly you need to do for it.

Sitemap and indexing

Rank Math automatically generates an XML sitemap for your website and submits it to the search engines. This makes it easier for websites to be indexed. You can also very easily check which pages are indexed and fix any problems if they cannot be indexed.

Additional SEO tips

Also use other tools

It is important to use other tools besides Rank Math to optimise your website. So you can use Google Search Console to check how well your pages are doing, which keywords you are being found on and which pages you need to tackle first to rank higher. In addition, you can also use Semrush to look at which keywords your competitors are ranking for. It is then also connected to Google Search Console, allowing you to easily compare your numbers with those of a competitor.

Long-term investment

SEO is a long-term investment, so immediate results are often not immediately visible. Consistent effort is essential. In addition, it is also important to note that it is easier to rank higher for a keyword you already rank for than to rank for a new keyword.

Any more SEO tips?

Explore our blog “Starting with SEO” to know more about SEO and what it is all about.

With Rank Math, you get access to several features you can use to improve your website. The plugin is very user-friendly and also offers extensive functionality. The free version contains everything you need. If you want to use even more stuff (like content ai), you need to get the paid version. Want more information regarding SEO? Then be sure to discover our blog or are you in need of SEO training? You certainly can. Then be sure to check out our SEO basic training or our SEO advanced training for more information.

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